Shazam! Gets Official Synopsis; Dwayne Johnson Executive Producing

Warner Bros. has released an official synopsis for Shazam! as production is now well underway. The 2019 superhero movie, starring Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Zachary Levi as Shazam (formerly Captain Marvel), comes from notable horror director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) and screenwriters Darren Lemke (Goosebumps) - who wrote the first draft of Shazam!'s screenplay - and Henry Gayden (Earth to Echo), who boarded the project in late 2017 and rewrote Lemke's script.

Shazam! has been in production for almost four years. It was first announced alongside the rest of the mainline DCEU films in 2014, but Warner Bros. has taken their time with the project, allowing it to gestate behind the scenes while they worked on bringing the world's finest heroes onto the big screen. But as Aquaman is now in post-production, Shazam! is the latest DCEU film to enter production. And while comic book fans have had a general idea of what to expect from the adaptation, the new official synopsis expands on those central ideas and officially confirms the film's main villain.

Warner Bros. released Shazam!'s synopsis today as filming has officially begun. The synopsis confirms Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) as the main villain, and it reveals that Billy Batson will be 14 years old, not 10 years old as he's usually depicted in the comics. That means they're going for a more teen-centric story. You can read the synopsis below:

"We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong)."

Along with unveiling Shazam!'s first synopsis, Warner Bros. also confirmed the movie's central cast, specifically which character each previously announced cast member is playing. Jack Dylan Grazer is playing Billy's best friend, Freddy, who is also part of Billy's foster family. The family includes Billy's sister, Mary (Grace Fulton), Darla (Faithe Herman), Eugene (Ian Chen), and Pedro (Jovan Armand). The Walking Dead's Cooper Andrews and No Tomorrow's Marta Millans are playing the family's foster parents, Victor and Rosa Vasquez, respectively. Furthermore, Ron Cephas Jones is playing the Wizard, but it's unclear if he'll be referred to as Shazam in the movie.